Stephen Colbert, Jennifer Egan and 'The Great Gatsby' [Video]

Carolyn Kellogg

On his show Thursday night, Stephen Colbert hosted a book club with distinct Oprah-like overtones: cozy chairs, yellow pillows, a pastel tie and chardonnay. The book at hand was F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby."

To discuss the novel, he brought on ringer Jennifer Egan, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel "A Visit from the Goon Squad." Egan does a great job of serving up the reasons to take Fitzgerald's classic seriously in petite, TV-sized nuggets. She also knows how to play along and stay out of Colbert's way when a joke is coming on.

If Colbert takes on the role of the overly smart, overly funny student, she plays the part of impossibly glamorous English teacher perfectly.

Colbert's conversation about the book "The Great Gatsby" continues with Baz Luhrmann, the director of the film that opens Friday. As Colbert says, Luhrmann also wrote "Romeo and Juliet."